Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A good place to live, if you can afford it. Incomes are its strong suit (A+): the median household earns $140K. With an A overall, Hudson sits 82nd of 357 in Wisconsin. Nationally, it does better than 86% of U.S. towns. Schools are a strength too: its schools rank ahead of 86% of Wisconsin towns. The trade-off is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $507K, 5.1 years of the Minneapolis metro’s $100K median household income. The biggest place to walk is Willow River State Park, 1,296 acres with 8.3 miles of trail. Only 79 of Wisconsin’s 874 towns score higher on health.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · health, CDC PLACES · OpenStreetMap.
Where Hudson beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Hudson | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.4% | 9.9% |
Where Hudson’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Hudson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,570 in 1860, 14,755 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1855 and 2 maps from 1946 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hudson, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Hudson.
Hudson sends many workers across the state line to St. Paul, has less tooth loss than most of Wisconsin and has cooler summers than most of the country, though not than most of Wisconsin.
Its widest gap with Wisconsin is tooth loss: 5.4% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.9% statewide. Against the 3,590 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hudson’s, it is less healthy than 56%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
The share of adults in Hudson who have high blood pressure is 32%, against 33% in Wisconsin’s towns and 35% across U.S. towns. 28% of adults feel lonely locally. Two figures for adults locally: 20% binge drink, 14% report frequent mental distress.
| Hudson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 20% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hudson | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.4% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.1% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
40% of working residents cross a state line to work, St. Paul among the top destinations. 25.1% of workers work from home, against 13.1% across Wisconsin.
Hudson’s average trip to work stands at 27 minutes. Commuting out is the norm here: 5% of working residents work locally. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs locally rose by 645, to 2,975. The share of workers in Hudson who work remotely from home is 25%, above both the Wisconsin town median (12%) and the median of U.S. towns (11%).
| Hudson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 25% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $140,000 | $87,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.7% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In 5 parks and preserves, walkers have 8.9 miles of trail. Parks and preserves in Hudson: 5, covering 1,589 acres.
| Hudson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.7% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Willow River State Park | 8.3 mi | 1,296 |
| 2. Clapp Waterfowl Production Area | 0.4 mi | 222 |
| 3. Eckert-Richards Blufflands | — | 48 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
July afternoons average 82.1°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 80% of Wisconsin places with climate records; January nights average 5.9°.
In Hudson, the peak summer temperature is 82°F. About 50 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Hudson | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 6°F | 11°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
On expected storm and flood damage, Hudson sits below 64% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Hudson break down as 45% from inland flooding and 22% from tornadoes. Also worth knowing: households locally have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2013.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hudson. Close and well known come first.
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
21 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino Arena
27 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
30 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
24 mi Stadium & arenaAllianz Field
29 mi Theme parkNickelodeon UniverseU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Allianz Field: Andy Witchger, CC BY 2.0 · Nickelodeon Universe: Tyler Vigen, CC BY 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hudson
About 2 of every 100 Hudson residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
11 notable people were born in Hudson.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Hudson is a city in and the county seat of St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,755. It is part of the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Hudson.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson | #82 | A | C | — | A | A− |
| Hudson | #108 | A− | C | C+ | A | A− |
| North Hudson | #81 | A | C+ | — | A | A− |
| Troy | #152 | B+ | C | — | A | A− |
| Warren | — | — | B | — | B− | B+ |
| St. Joseph | #170 | B+ | D | — | A | A− |
Warren has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Hudson, North Hudson, Troy, Warren and St. Joseph report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Hudson with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Hudson grades A overall, better than 86% of U.S. towns and #82 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades A− for health and A for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
11 notable people were born here, including Bjørn Selander and Davis Drewiske.
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